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Community service for former Hazelwood pupil who took part in sectarian attack on Catholic teenager from same school

Laganside Court in Belfast
Laganside Court in Belfast Laganside Court in Belfast

A COURT heard yesterday that a former pupil at an integrated Belfast school was part of a "mob'' who carried out a "heinous sectarian attack'' on a Catholic teenager who attended the same school.

Ryan Wood (18), of Gunnell Hill, off the Whitewell Road in north Belfast, was given 80 hours community service after he pleaded guilty to assaulting the 16-year-old boy occasioning him actual bodily harm.

Belfast Crown Court heard that Wood was part of a gang of five Protestant teenagers who "hunted down their quarry'', kicked him, "jumped on him'' and then beat him with metal poles almost two years ago.

The court was told that at the time of the attack Wood and his victim were both pupils at Hazelwood Integrated College in north Belfast.

Prosecution counsel Peter Magill said the "sectarian attack'' on March 27, 2015 was captured on CCTV near the M2 motorway at Arthur Road in the Whitewell area.

He told Judge Patricia Smyth that Wood and four males were observed on CCTV walking along with Whitewell Road. One was carrying a hammer, while Wood and some of the others were carrying metal bars.

"When they saw their victim, they ran towards him and he then runs away. He was chased and caught and assaulted by the five males, kicked to the ground and he was punched,'' explained Mr Magill.

"This defendant had a metal pole and struck the victim first to the shoulder and then two blows to the body. He was also repeatedly kicked by the others, with one person jumping on his body."

The court heard Wood was not apprehended at the time but his four accused were interviewed by police. Three of them were dealt with at the youth court and one at Belfast Magistrates' Court but none of them received custodial sentences.

Mr Magill said that it wasn't until a year later that Wood was arrested when the injured party viewed the CCTV footage and identified him as one of his attackers.

Defence solicitor Paul Farrell said the assault on the Catholic schoolboy was a "heinous attack'', adding: "It is one of the most serious type of assaults to come before the courts".

Wood, he said, lacked "structure in his life'' and fell into an "anti-social element'' around his home but had cut off all contact with them now.

He told the court: "It was a shocking revelation to his mother when she viewed the CCTV footage of what her son had done and she was clearly distressed by it".

Passing sentence Judge Patricia Smyth told Wood it was "very fortunate" the victim did not suffer serious injuries" and said it was more serious that they both attended the same school.'

Saying such cases normally warranted an immediate custodial sentence, the judge said she was taking into account Wood's previous clear record, his guilty plea, that he was "not a ringleader'' in the attack and his low risk of re-offending.

"In all of the circumstances of this case, the order of this court is a combination order and you will carry out 80 hours of unpaid work along with a 12 month probation order,'' added Judge Smyth.